At the gates of summer, the Sigep Observatory, the 46th international artisan confectionery exhibition, organized by the Italian Exhibition Group (Ieg), at the Rimini Fair from 18 to 22 January 2025), photographs data and trends in the ice cream sector.

In the five largest European countries (Italy, Spain, France, Germany, UK) there will be 2.2 billion ice creams sold in 2023, the year in which, according to Crest-Circana data, ice cream consumption in Europe grew by 4. 7%. Our country confirms itself as the main market with 28% of the ice cream portions served out of the European total. An increase is expected for Circana in 2024 thanks to a consumer who finds ice cream an indispensable and accessible pleasure, in a still uncertain economic context.

According to Claudio Pica , president of Fiepet Confesercenti and general secretary of the Italian Ice Cream Makers Association (Aig), "the positive performance of sales recorded this spring allows us to estimate an increase in consumption in Italy which from 6% can reach 12% in the cities of "art with a high tourist presence. Growth to be found in the internationalization strategies of ice cream abroad implemented by trade fair giants such as Sigep and by the associative world of the entire supply chain".

Giancarlo Timballo , president of the Ice Cream World Cup and master ice cream maker from Udine, explains that for the summer of 2024 he will create new flavors by drawing from local traditions and working on the products of the territories for which the demand of consumers, increasingly attentive and updated, is high. Among his proposals, ice cream with raspberry and rosemary. Eugenio Morrone , master ice cream maker with two famous Roman ice cream shops, recalls that customers pay attention to the moderation of sugars and fats: therefore there is great demand for dairy-free ice creams, such as the classic flavors prepared with cocoa mass or pistachio. On a healthy theme, Morrone presents the carrot, mandarin and lemon ice cream which also wants to be a tribute to the great Jannik Sinner . The 'surprise' is instead the return of the tiramisu flavour, increasingly requested especially by foreign tourists. For Domenico Belmonte, well-known master ice cream maker from Santa Maria di Castellabate, classic flavors such as creams have returned to Cilento with the first hot ones. But there is also a real boom in exotic fruit, including mango and passion fruit.

Marco Miquel Sirvent , president of Asociación Nacional Heladeros Artesanos de España, underlines the health aspect. In Spain in the last two years the trend has been to purchase ice cream with low sugar content, however classic flavors such as nougat, vanilla and chocolate resist. The prospects for summer 2024 are optimistic, with an increase in consumption expected between 3% and 5%. German consumers, however, remain fond of the great classics but without giving up seasonality and curiosity for new things. Dario Fontanella, founder of a well-known ice cream shop in Mannheim, Germany, explains that although the main flavors remain classic, the German customer is intrigued by particular mixes and seeks seasonality. His proposal is a white chocolate ice cream with asparagus, typical of the Baden-Württemberg region. Among the new flavours, the bergamot one with curry and wasabi.